ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Unsecured Commercial LoansWith the Fine Print Read.
No mortgage over your property, assessed on how the business trades rather than on what it owns. Fast, flexible, and surrounded by documents most borrowers never read. We read them, because in this category the contract decides more than the rate does.
15 minutes with a commercial specialist. Tell us what the money is for and what the business turns over. We’ll tell you what is realistic and what you would actually be signing. We charge you nothing at any stage. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Business Loan Specialists
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is an Unsecured Commercial Loan?
An unsecured commercial loan is a business term facility arranged without a mortgage over real property. It is assessed on trading performance rather than on assets, and it is normally used for growth, equipment, expansion or a one-off cost.
It moves quickly, because there is no valuation on the critical path and the assessment runs largely on data the lender can read directly from your bank feed and your ATO position. Decisions in days rather than weeks are normal.
Two things are worth understanding before that speed becomes the reason you choose it. Unsecured describes the absence of a mortgage, not the absence of security: most of these facilities sit behind a general security agreement over the company and personal guarantees from its directors. And because the limit is derived from recent trading, it moves with the business rather than staying where you left it.
Common Situations
Why People Come to Us for an Unsecured Business Loan
Six situations. In two of them there is a cheaper product doing the same job.
Growth that needs funding now
A second site, a bigger team, a marketing push. The classic case for a term facility, because the spend is one-off and the return builds over the years the loan runs.
No property or none you will pledge
Plenty of good businesses do not own premises, and plenty of directors will not mortgage the family home for a business decision. Both are legitimate reasons to pay more for an unsecured structure.
Speed decides it
A supplier deal, a purchase window, an opportunity with a deadline. Where the value of moving quickly exceeds the extra cost, this is the right product and there is no close substitute.
A tax bill that needs settling
Common and often sensible, since an aged ATO debt affects what every other lender will do. Worth reading alongside business debt consolidation before deciding.
Buying plant or equipment
Usually the wrong product. An asset that can secure its own funding almost always finances more cheaply through equipment finance than through an unsecured term loan.
Covering a gap that keeps returning
Also usually the wrong product. A recurring shortfall between paying suppliers and being paid is what cashflow and working capital facilities exist for.
Social Proof
120+ Five-Star Google Reviews
Business owners, investors and developers alongside home buyers. Pulled live from Google.
Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Unsecured business files sit with Charbel, our Commercial & Complex Lending Specialist. This is the category where the contract decides more than the rate does, so the useful hours go into the general security agreement, the guarantee, the default triggers and the early repayment position rather than into the headline number. Those terms differ more between lenders than the pricing does, and none of them are in the quote you were emailed.
Part of Our 100+ Lender Panel
The names most people recognise are residential lenders. Much of what we arrange runs through funders that do not advertise to the public. Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it, and which lender suits you is decided by your file rather than by who is on this list.
Been Sent a Contract Already?
Send it over. We’ll tell you what is actually in it.What You Are Actually Signing
Unsecured Means No Mortgage. It Does Not Mean No Security.
The word describes one specific absence: there is no mortgage registered over real property. Almost everything else a lender would normally take, it still takes. Six things sit inside these facilities that borrowers regularly discover late.
The general security agreement
Most unsecured facilities are supported by a general security agreement covering the company’s present and future assets: plant, stock, receivables, intellectual property, the lot. It is registered, other lenders can see it, and it is security in every sense except that it is not over land.
The guarantee moves the debt to you
Directors normally guarantee these facilities personally. That converts a company obligation into a personal one, which is how a loan taken without pledging the house can still end up reaching personal assets. Scope and duration vary, so this is a document for your solicitor rather than a signature block.
The limit follows recent trading
Lenders derive the amount from turnover and banking activity over a lookback period rather than from what you need or what you own. The practical consequence is that capacity shrinks during a downturn and expands during a good run, which is the opposite of when most businesses want it.
Priority decides the appetite
An unsecured lender ranks behind anyone holding registered security over the same assets. That position, not your character or your plans, is what sets its price and its caution. Clearing or restructuring an old registration you had forgotten about can change the offers available.
Stacking is visible and it counts against you
Taking a second or third facility while one is running is read as a distress signal, not as a larger balance sheet. Lenders search the Personal Property Securities Register before advancing, so existing registered interests are plainly visible. Stacking usually reduces what the next lender offers rather than adding to it.
You have contract protections you may not know about
These are standard form contracts, and ASIC administers unfair contract term protections that cover standard form small business contracts for financial products and services, including credit. If a court finds a term unfair it is void, treated as though it never existed. Worth knowing before you accept a clause you dislike as unavoidable.
Checked August 2026. ASIC administers unfair contract term protections under section 12BF of the ASIC Act covering standard form contracts for financial products and services, including credit, entered into, renewed or varied on or after 12 November 2016. A small business contract is one where at least one party employs fewer than 100 people or has turnover for the last income year under 10 million dollars, and the upfront price payable does not exceed 5 million dollars. Sourced from ASIC on unfair contract term protections for small businesses, with Best Interests Duty scope from ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
We don’t publish rates, and we’d be cautious of anyone in commercial who does. What we can do is read the general security agreement, the guarantee and the contract before you sign, and tell you plainly what each one does. Ask us to read it with you.
The Honest Comparison
Go Unsecured or Offer Security and Pay Less?
Unsecured costs more. That is the deal, and it is often worth taking. Here is what you are buying with the difference.
Offering property as security
- Materially cheaper, and usually over a much longer term
- Larger limits, because the amount follows the asset rather than the turnover
- Repayments are lighter, so the facility is easier to carry through a slow quarter
- Slower. A valuation and a mortgage sit on the critical path
- The property is directly exposed to a business decision
No mortgage over property
- Days rather than weeks, with no valuation to wait on
- Available to businesses that own no property at all
- Keeps property unencumbered and available for something else
- 100+ lenders compared, with the security and guarantee documents read before you sign
- No fee to you at any stage, on any loan type, including no clawback fee
If you own property and you are not in a hurry, secure it. The pricing difference on a term facility is not marginal, and over several years it is a great deal of money to pay for convenience you did not need. Unsecured earns its cost in three situations: you own no property, you have decided as a matter of principle that the house does not stand behind business decisions, or the opportunity closes before a secured facility could settle. All three are good reasons. Wanting to avoid paperwork is not, and we will say so.
Find Out If You Need to Go Unsecured
Tell us whether you own property and when the opportunity closes. If offering security would cost you less over the term we will say so. Fifteen minutes. No obligation.The Difference
Speed Is the Product and That Is Exactly the Risk
Everything about this category is built to move quickly. That is genuinely useful and it is also what stops people reading a general security agreement before signing it.
We Read the Security Documents
The general security agreement, the guarantee, the default triggers and the early repayment position. These are where an unsecured facility differs most between lenders, and they are not in the quote you were emailed.
100+ Lenders Rather Than the Ones Advertising at You
The unsecured lenders most visible to a business owner are the ones spending most to reach them. Banks and second-tier lenders write this business too, without the marketing budget, and they are frequently cheaper.
Always in Writing
Business purpose lending sits outside the consumer credit rules, so Best Interests Duty does not apply to an unsecured business loan. ASIC Regulatory Guide 273 limits that duty to credit regulated under the National Credit Act. We disclose in writing how we are paid before you proceed regardless.
We’ll Tell You Not To
If the money is going on an asset that could secure itself, if the gap is recurring rather than one-off, or if you own property and have time to use it, there is a cheaper facility and we will point you at it. We are paid by the lender on settlement, so that costs us.
The Process
What Happens and What We’ll Need
The lightest document load of any commercial facility we arrange, and the one where the reading happens at the end rather than the beginning.
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15 minutes
Purpose and position
What the money is for, what the business turns over, what is already registered against it, and how quickly you need it. No documents. You will finish the call knowing whether unsecured is the right structure or whether something cheaper fits.
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You gather
Trading data
Short list, and most lenders will read the bank data directly rather than asking for full financials.
- Six to twelve months of business bank statements
- ATO portal statements and any payment plan
- Recent management accounts
- Details of every existing facility
- Any current PPSR registrations against the company
- What the funds are for, in one line
- ID for each director and guarantor
- Two years of tax returns for larger facilities
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We compare
Total cost and terms together
Total repayable in dollars, the security package, the guarantee scope, the default triggers and the early repayment position, across every offer. Two facilities with similar headline pricing can carry very different obligations behind them.
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Before you sign
Reading the documents properly
We go through the general security agreement and the guarantee with you and flag anything that should go to your solicitor. This is the step the speed of the product tends to swallow, and it is the one that matters most if things later go wrong.
Track Record
Commercial Is Not a Sideline For Us
Most brokerages run almost entirely residential and pass unsecured business enquiries to whichever lender answers first. We have run a commercial desk alongside residential since 2005.
Related Options
If a Term Loan Isn’t the Right Shape
Several of these do the same job more cheaply when the circumstances fit. Worth two minutes before you commit.
Cashflow and working capital
Revolving cover for a gap that recurs, rather than a term loan drawn once.
Equipment finance
If the money is buying an asset, let the asset secure its own funding.
Invoice finance
Where the cash is already earned and sitting in unpaid invoices.
Business debt consolidation
If there are already several facilities running, adding another rarely helps.
Commercial property loan
If you own property and have time, secured funding costs materially less.
Every commercial facility we arrange
Back up to the full commercial finance range if none of these is it.
Before You Sign the Guarantee.
Fifteen minutes to understand what it actually commits you to.Questions Answered
Unsecured Commercial Loan FAQs
The questions business owners ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is an unsecured commercial loan?
An unsecured commercial loan is a business term facility arranged without a mortgage over real property. It is assessed on trading performance rather than on assets, and it is normally used for growth, equipment, expansion or a one-off cost. Unsecured describes the absence of a mortgage, not the absence of security.
Is an unsecured business loan really unsecured?
Rarely in the way borrowers assume. Most unsecured business facilities are supported by a general security agreement over the company’s present and future assets, and by personal guarantees from directors. What is absent is a mortgage over real estate. The lender still holds a registered interest in the business and a claim against the guarantors.
What is a director’s guarantee?
A promise by a director personally to repay the company’s debt if the company does not. It moves the obligation from the company to the individual, which means personal assets can ultimately be exposed even though no property was mortgaged at the outset. Guarantees vary in scope and duration, so the document should be reviewed by your solicitor before signing.
How is an unsecured loan limit decided?
Mostly from recent trading. Lenders look at turnover and banking activity over a lookback period, along with the ATO position and existing commitments, and derive a limit from that. Because the limit follows recent performance, it tends to contract during a downturn, which is often exactly when a business wants it to expand.
Do I have any protection against unfair contract terms?
Often yes. ASIC administers unfair contract term protections under section 12BF of the ASIC Act for standard form contracts covering financial products and services, including credit. A small business contract is one where a party employs fewer than 100 people or has turnover under 10 million dollars, and the upfront price does not exceed 5 million dollars. A term found unfair by a court is void.
What is loan stacking and why does it matter?
Taking an additional unsecured facility while an existing one is still running. Lenders check the Personal Property Securities Register before advancing, so existing registered interests are visible to them. Multiple concurrent facilities are read as a distress signal, and they usually reduce what any further lender will offer rather than adding to the total available.
What is the difference between an unsecured loan and a cashflow facility?
Structure and purpose. An unsecured commercial loan is a term facility drawn once and repaid on a schedule, normally used to fund growth or a specific cost. A cashflow or working capital facility is usually revolving and is sized to the recurring gap between paying suppliers and being paid. Funding a repeating gap with a term loan generally means borrowing again once it is repaid.
Does Best Interests Duty apply to an unsecured business loan?
No, where the borrowing is for business purposes. ASIC Regulatory Guide 273 states that the best interests obligations apply only to credit products regulated under the National Credit Act, meaning credit provided to consumers for personal, domestic or household purposes or for the purchase or improvement of residential investment property. We disclose in writing how we are paid on every transaction regardless.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Unsecured facilities run entirely by phone, email and video, so we work with businesses in every state.
Ready When You Are
Tell Us What the Money Is For.
Fifteen minutes with a commercial specialist. We’ll tell you what is realistic on your trading, what the security package and the guarantee actually commit you to, and whether a cheaper facility would do the same job. If it would, we’ll point you at it. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
Business purpose lending sits outside the consumer credit framework, so Best Interests Duty does not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid before you proceed on every transaction. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice or an offer of credit, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, valuations, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and by independent valuers, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Any figure, range or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome. Limits, terms, security requirements and guarantee arrangements are set by individual lenders and vary with the industry, the trading history and the strength of the business, so nothing on this page is a statement of what any particular lender will do.
Business purpose lending. Credit provided wholly or predominantly for business purposes is not regulated consumer credit, and the Best Interests Duty and responsible lending obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 do not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid in writing before you proceed on every transaction regardless.
Tax and legal. GST, stamp duty, land tax and the tax treatment of any ownership structure depend on your circumstances and on how the contract is written. We are not tax agents, accountants or solicitors, and nothing on this page is legal advice. Confirm the position with a registered tax agent, the Australian Taxation Office, your accountant or your solicitor before acting. Security and guarantee documents, including any director’s guarantee, should be reviewed by your solicitor before you sign, and whether a particular contract term is unfair is a question for a court and for your solicitor.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to government schemes, regulatory settings, tax treatment or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member